Well, you can tell by my list of cars, I'm not gonna get rich from ANY
of them. The Humbers in particular will cost a fortune to do the chrome and
the interiors. But I'm in no hurry. All my cars are drivable, maybe a little
rough around the edges, but they're drivable. I do things a little at a
time. I go to shows with my cars, occasionally even leave with a trophy when
MUCH nicer cars were there. The difference is, when was the last time you
saw a Humber or a Commer at a Brit-car show? I've never won anything but a
long-distance award with my Alpine, but I don't like it any less. It's just
more common.
I guess what it comes down to, is that I like all the cars I have. I
drive them whenever I want to. I have a more "modern" car for the missus, a
1982 Mercedes diesel wagon. It has all the creature comforts she wants, and
is still simple enough for me to work on. No payments, and reasonable
insurance costs. But I prefer my old Rootes cars. Sure, something may break
now and then, heck, they're 30 to 40 years old. That's one of the reasons I
have several! I can take a car out of use easily, and just switch to another
while I wait for parts. I spend money on them, but not as much annually as I
would if I was making payments on a new car. And, I GUARANTEE you that new
car won't make it to 40 years old.
Jon Arzt
1958 Hillman Minx convertible
1961 Humber Super Snipe
1966 Humber Super Snipe estate
1966 Sunbeam Alpine
1967 Sunbeam Funwagon
1974 Commer Autosleeper
>From: BritshIron@aol.com
>Reply-To: BritshIron@aol.com
>To: british-cars@autox.team.net, rovernet@lyris.ccdata.com
>Subject: Worth The Price?
>Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 23:56:31 EST
>
>It's come to my conclusion, that any certain vehicle has to be important to
>the owner to put so much into it. I am speaking of trying to restore a
>vehicle, from purchase to rolling beauty. I am in the midst of having the
>body work and upholstery done on the P5 and it's looking pretty good. Of
>course I'm going to own the most expensive $3000 Rover, as Rover prices
>have
>not really commanded Ferrari prices. My question is this: is it worth it? I
>know a friend of mine that has a $10,000 MGB and he knows he can only get
>between 6-8K. Saloons get even less. I know this question has weighed
>heavily
>on many minds. I can do the mechanical work, but the more expensive labor
>work I have to source out. There's also the wood work and the chrome that
>still needs doing. Is it all without regret? Or should we all just buy
>cheap
>import cars and park the old ones out back. Guess I'm wondering if everyone
>is happy they did it instead of just buying a new car.
>
>Roland
>52 Austin Somerset
>54 Rover P4
>60 Rover P5
>66 Rover P6
>67 Sunbeam Minx
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